Merry Christmas, Singapore Symphony Orchestra!

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 12 adfherahfkajsdbf, 11 asdjflhadfha, 10 asdjfhadjfh, 9 asdjfhaldhf, 8 akdjfaldjfhaldj, 7 adjhfadjhf, 6 adjfhadfah, 5 GOLD RINGS! 4 adhfadfhkh, 3 adfhaldfalk, 2 hajdhfafdhk… AND A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREEEEEE!!!”

That’s how I sing The Twelve Days of Christmas. Luckily for everyone tonight I was only singing along to the Singapore Symphony Chorus and Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir. Only the lady next to me had to be subjected to my warbling.

When I was a kid, I used to hang out backstage a lot while Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) concerts went on. After staying with my grandparents all week, being with at work with my parents (a French horn player and a violinist) was a real treat, and as I got older I derived a lot of satisfaction from being “in charge” of all the younger kids, making sure they didn’t make so much noise that the audience would be able to hear them. This was in the days when performances were still in the Victoria Concert Hall (VCH), and the backstage area was so accessible you could stand right at the doors to the stage to watch.

I remember attending a Christmas concert at VCH where Santa walked out on stage, and the orchestra threw candy at the crowd. I picked up a few choice treats that night. The fact that I kind of knew the guy dressed as Santa didn’t lessen the magic; in fact, I thought it was pretty awesome that I got to address Santa as “Uncle”. For a 7-year-old, knowing Santa makes you as cool as a teenager who’s personal friends with Matt Bellamy from Muse.

Although I have been to a number of SSO concerts in the years since (though not as many as you’d think), I never attended another SSO Christmas concert until this year’s at the Esplanade Concert Hall.

Candy-throwing from the orchestra had been stopped years ago, since people started bringing candy to throw back at the orchestra. (They meant well but the musicians got really stressed out protecting their expensive instruments from confectionary missiles.) But the magic’s not been lost, and this concert really got me into the holiday mood. I’m now ready to drape myself in tinsel and skip in circles singing carols and suck on candy canes till my teeth fall out.

The music was beautiful and the orchestra always plays well together. Attending an SSO concert always makes me think about how wonderful it is that human beings thought of making music and creating musical instruments. If you think about it, musical instruments don’t serve any particular practical use unlike the wheel or the machine that slices bread. But I’d take music over a sliced loaf any day.

The SSO is one of those Singaporean institutions that deserve much more support than they might get. Sure, I might be biased, but I really do believe that every Singaporean should at least attend one performance by our national orchestra. Non-Singaporeans too should check out this orchestra when they have the opportunity. It is, after all, a respected orchestra that has toured and received good reviews in countries like the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Japan and China. The Spectator Arts Blog said that the SSO “could be one of the great orchestras of the 21st century.” So there.

For those who might be put off by heavy classical pieces, concerts like the Christmas concert would be perfect – familiar tunes and easy-listening melodies, a more relaxed atmosphere, musicians in Santa hats (I was disappointed that my mum wasn’t wearing reindeer antlers, but apparently they wouldn’t stay on her head)… what’s not to like? They also have 5 Babies’ Proms performances this week, but I’ve just checked and they’re pretty much sold out with only single seats left on Fridays. Oh well, they’ll be back next year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, SSO!

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